Kidding Clues for Newbies...
Be there as the mystery of birth unfolds....

If you are a newbie to goats, you might be exited as well as nervous about what will occur during your first kidding. It is quite normal to be nervous. Being prepared will help you relax and enjoy your first kidding experience.

The average gestation for a goat is 145 to 155 days. Keeping good records of breedings is important so that you have a general idea when your doe may kid. If you know the date that your doe was covered, count 150 days from that date and that is your approximate kidding date. Your doe may kid a few days early or later, don't worry if your doe does not kid on the exact date you have recorded.

Being familiar with your doe's body and daily routine will help you identify when your doe is getting closer to kidding. Observing your doe daily will tell you how she eats, rests, and responds to other goats. You should start to see changes in your doe's shape around the 2nd month of gestation. How soon a doe will start to show her pregnancy varies from doe to doe. How deep her torso is, and how many kids she is carrying is a determining factor. Some does will show their pregnancy right away, and some will hardly show at all right up until the time of kidding.

At 3 months of gestation, you should notice your doe resting more. She may guard her belly when she is around other animals. If your doe is carrying multiple babies, you may start to feel them moving around toward the end of the 3rd month. Placing your hand on the side of your doe's belly on the right side (side opposite the rumen), sliding your hand down toward the udder is the best location to feel kids moving. Don't be alarmed if you do not feel kids moving around every time you touch her belly. You may not feel the kids kicking until later in the pregnancy. Usually by the 4th month, you can see the kids bumping around as the doe's belly expands. Kids grow the most in the last month of gestation.

Roughly 6 weeks before kidding, your doe may start to have a slight discharge on her vulva. This is the body's way of helping prepare the doe for kidding. You will not see a lot of discharge at this time, in fact you may or may not even see it. Sometimes the discharge is so scant that it collects on the doe's tail and you won't see the residue unless you lift her tail.

Also during this time your doe will be developing mammary glands. The mammary glands enable the doe to produce milk. Your doe may not like her udder handled as the developing udder is a little tender. It is important for you to feel her udder not only to know how she is progressing, but also to get her used to the idea of having her teats milked or nursed on. This is good experience for the doe.

Once the mammary glands are in developed, your doe will start to make her colostrum. Colostrum is a very thick, and rich milk that contains antibodies that the kids will need. Babies are not born with antibodies, so it is very important that they get as much colostrum as they can in the first 12 hours of life.

A few weeks before your doe will kid you will notice that her belly will drop, and you may see more kid activity than normal. This means that the baby or babies are getting into position for being born. At the same time, your doe's spinal cord will appear to raise up. This happens so that the baby can move through the short birth canal to be born.

Your doe's udder is going to get very full with milk just prior to kidding. Some does do not put down their milk fully until they are in full labor. It is not advisable to milk the doe before she has kid. Each teat has a natural plug in it. If you milk the doe before she has kid, not only will you be milking out colostrum, but you may promote bacteria getting up inside the udder which causes mastitis.

When you start seeing the changes in your doe's body, you are going to want to prepare your kidding kit so that you have everything you need in a handy location. In your kidding kit you should have a clean bucket for warm water, antiseptic soap to wash your hands in case you need to assist in the delivery, surgical gloves, Iodine and a small container to dob the kids navel with, clean towels to dry the kids off, a couple clean pop bottles and caprine nipples, heat treated colostrum, a navel clamp or dental floss to tie off the umbilical cord. Some people may also include n O.B. snare, which is used for malpresentations, scissors in case the umbilical cord needs cutting.

The area where your doe will kid should be stripped of old bedding, and fresh bedding of straw should be ready. Be generous with the fresh straw as your doe is going to lay down when she goes into labor.

You're doe is going to need fresh water, however, as a safety precaution it is not advised to leave a water bucket in with a doe that is about to kid as the kids could be born into the water bucket and drown.

Tail ligaments on a doe are another sign that kidding is close. After observing and spending time with your doe, you are going to know from the feel of her tail if she is gearing up for kidding. If you want to check for tail ligaments, you will stand behind the doe and feel what appears to be a "V" along side of the tail. When this softens, and you no longer feel the ligaments in that "V", your doe is very close to kidding.

By this time, your doe will be starting to nest in her straw, get up and down a lot, and appear to be very restless. When your doe is in the early stages of labor she will have some very white thick discharge appear on her vulva. You most likely will not see a lot of contractions until your doe is in hard labor. The discharge on her vulva may range in color. This discharge is what lubricates the birth canal and prepares for the kidding. Her udder will become very tight, sometimes shiny with a bit of coloring. This means that she has dropped her milk and is ready for her babies.

As the contractions regulate, your doe will lie down and may even look back toward her hind end and baaa softly as if she is calling to her kids. When she is in hard labor the doe will grunt and sometimes baaa really loud.

In a normal delivery, you will see more discharge come from the vulva, and then a water sack will appear. The proper position for a kid to come out is front feet first with the head on top. When the bag emerges, you should be able to see the tiny hoofs just inside before the water breaks. Sometimes the bag ruptures as the feet and head are delivered.

If your doe presents a water bag, and there aren't any feet or head, you will need to scrub up and assist the doe. The general rule of thumb is to wait about 15-20 minutes from the time the water bag appears to determine whether the kid is coming out in the right position. Kidding is actually a fairly fast process as the birth canal on a goat is not very long. However, sometimes it takes a doe a little longer to present the head and feet through the cervical opening.

If you do not see any progress in 15 minutes from the time the water bag appears, you will want to wash your hands and put on your surgical gloves. Add a little lubricant to the gloves and carefully insert a couple fingers into the vaginal opening to see if you can feel hooves. It is important to stay calm and talk softly to your doe to comfort her as you are trying to locate the feet.

Once you determine which direction the feet are pointing, you can help the baby be born. A kid can be born back feet first but it takes a little guidance to do that. You need to be gentle when you are pulling the kid not only for the well being of the kid, but also pulling too hard or against the contractions can cause the uterus to tear or rupture. This is another reason why you do not want your doe to stress and strain longer than 15 to 20 minutes.

After the kid has been born, you want to clean off the mucous from it's nose right away. The kid will blat a little bit and in some cases look around for something to eat. If your doe is carrying twins, you may expect to see another water bag emerge from her vulva as she is licking her newborn baby clean. As the second kid is being born her attention may be taken away to concentrate on delivering. That is a good time to towel off baby number 1 and dob it's navel. As baby number 2 is born, again, you will want to clean out it's nose

After the delivery of your kids, you will want to give your doe some warm water with some molasses. If you are practicing CAE Prevention, this is the time you will want to remove the kids from the doe before they attempt to nurse on her. You will then give your new kids their first bottle with heat treated colostrum. The volume of colostrum that the kids drink will vary depending on the individual kid.

If your kids will be dam raised, you can leave your doe to bond with her new kids once you have seen that she has passed her placenta and the kids have nursed atleast once.

© Danielle Westvang - Printed in Dairy Goat Journal